Marketing expenditures and industry transformation: are cigarette companies really shifting away from cigarettes?

Introduction Cigarette companies have stated their intent to transition from selling cigarettes to selling less harmful products, such as e-cigarettes. We examine trends in US cigarette marketing expenditures and their relationship to e-cigarette use. Methods We obtained US cigarette marketing expenditures data for 2010–2022 from the 2022 Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report. We compared these expenditures to adult e-cigarette prevalence data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). We also considered types of marketing expenditures. Results Cigarette marketing expenditures per pack have increased since 2010, most of which involve price discounting. These increases co-occurred with increased e-cigarette use, especially among youth and young adults. Conclusions Our analysis finds that, despite declining cigarette sales, cigarette companies have intensified their marketing efforts by allocating increasing expenditures per pack as e-cigarette use increased.